Coming to Australia, you can't NOT try surfing. Especially when the beach right by your school is called Surfer's Paradise. The four of us went to the travel agent on campus to see how we could set up a session with them. We had intentions of only buying on lesson of 2 hours. However, once we got there the guy was explaining the sessions and we decided to go with three lessons, we can schedule whenever we want. In total $115 AUD, not a bad price at all and we got a free t-shirt! My family, of course, laughed at the idea of surfing and I have to admit, I found it funny too. I can barely balance on solid ground let alone the waves here. We signed up with Cheyne Horan's School of Surf. Cheyne is a worldwide famous surfer, who has received numerous titles/trophies in competitions.

We had our first lesson yesterday. The school is right in Surfer's, two minutes from the bus stop. We walked over, signed in and got our thrash guards. They are long sleeve, spandex shirts to help prevent sand burn from the inevitable wipeouts to occur. The instructors were super nice and got us pumped up to go out there. They forced us to interact and get to know everyone in the group so we felt more comfortable while practicing. Kyra and I paired up to get boards (since we are around the same size/shape). The boards they use have extra spongeyfoamnonsense to help with balance and catching the best waves. We lined up our boards on the beach and practiced the basics: wave catching position, how to hold the board and keep control of it while walking out into the surf, and how to jump onto the board/pull yourself up to keep balance. After the few tries, we went out into the water to practice those basic skills and boogie board back to the beach. I didn't have too much of a problem with that part. The hardest part for me is keeping control of the board (keeping it straight into the waves without it getting sideways and sucked away, AHHH). Once out I was able to time perfectly, but my arms are so weak it took me a while to slide up to the middle. After an exhausting while, we were called back to the beach to learn stances. There are three different ways to stand up on the board. The last way is the easiest on land, but (from experience) harder while in the water since it takes more time. Next lesson I am going to try to jump up onto the board while at a decent speed. One of the instructions saw me struggling so he helped me a lot and I was able to get to my knees and just as I was about to stand I placed my foot too far right and wiped out. Hard. Gashed my knees and it's hard to bend right now. He was really persistent that I get to stand, I felt like I was at bootcamp- even though it was awesome. I did, however, gulp down quite a LOT of salt water and felt nauseous so I had to take a break near the end of the lesson. They gave us a certificate of completion and we all stood around and clapped for one another.

The lesson in general was awesome. It's something not many people experience in their lifetimes and the coaches made you feel very comfortable. I went into this experience knowing that I was going to fall a lot, eat sand, and barely be able to stand. Therefore, I was not embarassed at all when it happened. Not many people on the beach pay attention for long anyway and it didnt matter to me. They weren't the ones trying, so they can't say anything. I am looking forward to my other two lessons so that maybe I can stand for a few seconds at a time in the waves.

Also, let me tell you what a work out that was. Yesterday I was achey in my biceps and triceps but in general feeling fine. This morning was extremely painful though. Muscles I didn't even know I had are sore and sitting down even hurts. Both of my arms, including my forearms burn, rotating them backwards hurts my shoulders. My hips. My outer butt area and my thighs. It is definitely an upper body workout because you have to constantly hold your board, being hit by waves and still be able to pull yourself up. I got a weird burn line on the front of my legs so sleeping was slightly painful too. Hopefully tomorrow I feel a little better. Oh man, it feels good! I feel like I have accomplished so much already and we still have a lot more to do.

Only 11 weeks!